


together, we'll heal

by georgiehensley



Category: Shazam! (2019), Stargirl (TV 2020)
Genre: Crossover Pairings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Male Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25045798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/georgiehensley/pseuds/georgiehensley
Summary: There's an unexplainable bond that forms between people who endured similar traumatic experiences in their childhoods.Billy wants to help Rick. Rick doesn't want his help, or anyone's, really. Eventually, they compromise.
Relationships: Billy Batson/Rick Tyler
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	together, we'll heal

**Author's Note:**

> guess i'm just writing as many stargirl fics now as i had for shazam last year, lol. this time, another crossover, yay! i just came to realize how much billy and rick have in common, so i thought to pair them together and wound up writing this. woo!

There's an unexplainable bond that forms between people who endured similar traumatic experiences in their childhoods. So when Billy starts spending more and more time with the second generation of JSA members, he quickly finds himself drawn to Rick.

Rick never talks about what happened to him, but Courtney's filled Billy in on his story, how his parents suddenly left him to be looked after by his uncle, only to get into a car accident that same exact night. Well, it wasn't an accident, actually, it was planned.

Just like how Billy's mom had planned, to a degree, not to raise him anymore.

It turns out, Rick is pretty quiet in general. Billy can understand that. He's always been a bit reserved, even now, after he's finally found himself a new home with the Vasquez's. Rick reminds him a lot of how he acted before that. How quiet and brooding he was, always trapped in the noise and static of his own mind, a rage brewing inside him that he just couldn't get rid of, no matter how hard he tried.

But Beth says he opens up sometimes, you just have to kind of coax it out of him. Do most of the talking and eventually, he'll join in, even if it's with a handful of brief responses.

Billy reminds himself of this strategy as he walks into Pat's garage, where Rick is lying beneath his car, doing God knows what--Billy is clueless about cars outside of his Shazam form--to get it to work.

"I thought I'd find you here," he says, glancing down at Rick's jean-clad calves that just barely poke out from beneath the vehicle.

No response. The only sound that Billy hears in the brief silence that follows is the squeak of screws being twisted into metal.

"So, Courtney says we're coming up on the anniversary of, er,  _ that night _ ," Billy continues. "She thought you could use someone to talk to about it, but that I'm the best candidate, given that I, you know, grew up with a dad in jail and a mom who left me at a carnival." He laughs dryly, the casualty in which he summarizes his childhood trauma amusing him.

Again, Rick is silent.

"Well, I know you're not much of a talker," Billy says. "So that's why I came up with a different idea. Maybe we could head outside, towards the edge of town, suit up and you can just… take your anger out on me, if you want? I mean, 'cause I'm the only one who can really handle your super-strength, and I know how badly you probably wanna punch someone right now."

"And how is that supposed to make me feel better?" Rick asks from underneath his car. "Punching a guy who could zap me with the snap of his fingers?"

"I wouldn't--" Billy starts, only to sigh. At least he finally got Rick to talk. "I can control that. What I meant was… I could be, like, your boxing partner. You could swing into my hands, and I can take it. Scream, if you want. Whatever makes you feel better."

Suddenly, Rick rolls out from beneath his car, sitting up and rising to his feet. He walks towards the worktable to put his tools down. "What would make me feel  _ better _ ," he says, his back to Billy. "Would be taking down whatever  _ thing _ killed my parents. And whoever arranged their… murder."

"I know," Billy says, taking a few steps towards Rick, while still keeping a safe distance from him, just in case. "The girls are working on that. I just thought you could use the distraction."

"I don't need your help," Rick snaps, turning suddenly to face Billy. His voice softens, "Working on the car is distraction enough. And if I can get it up and running, maybe I'll take it for a drive around town."

"But you'll just be thinking about them, I know it. And that's just going to make things worse."

"There are other things going on in my life that I can think about while driving."

"Like what?"

Rick falls silent again, his gaze falling to the floor as he bites his lip.

"Nothing," he mumbles.

"What was that?"

"I said nothing," Rick says, lifting his head to look at Billy. "Why do you wanna help me so badly?"

"Because I understand what you're going through."

"Your parents are still alive!"

"But they might as well be dead!" Billy says, jumping at the sound of his own raised voice. 

Rick's eyebrows go up. He knows he's barely spoken to Billy in all the times that he's visited Blue Valley, but he's at least known the boy's story. But like how Billy found out Rick's, Rick had to hear it secondhand. From Beth, of all people, whose goggles offered them all the information they needed to know about Billy.

Except for his thoughts and feelings about what happened to him.

"They're alive, yes," Billy says now in a lower voice. "But they don't want me and I don't want them. I have Rosa and Victor, yes, but they're not exactly the same as having my own biological parents to bond with. At least you had yours longer than I had mine."

After a moment, Rick nods. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"We can go out and train, or whatever your idea was."

For the first time since entering the garage, Billy smiles. "Okay. Shall I give you a ride there?"

Rick cracks a half-smile.

The feeling of being in the air is one that Rick doesn't think he'll ever get used to. Though it's kind of nice, the weightlessness, the wind rustling his hair and rushing through his ears.

None of it beats the feeling of Billy's strong arms wrapped around him, his firm chest pressed against Rick's back. Rick would be lying to himself if he said he didn't find the boy's superhero form attractive.

Though his normal form, which Rick doesn't see again for a while, until they've collapsed to the ground in a heap of exhaustion, isn't half-bad either. It's that form of his that Rick reaches for as he lies down next to him, his fingers wrapping easily around one of his wrists as he leans in, stealing the other boy's breath as he kisses him on the lips.

And as Rick's thoughts begin to change, momentarily letting go of his lingering grief, instead focusing on the boy next to--and soon beneath--him, he suddenly begins to feel optimistic about the future. He may not have his parents anymore, but he has a new family now, in Courtney, Yolanda, Beth, and Pat. 

And a new love, in Billy. 


End file.
